Healthy Skepticism Inc and other
people and groups with similar
aims

• National organisations and people
– NoFreeLunch USA, NoFreeLunch UK
– No Grazie Pago Io (Italy), Mezis (Germany)
– Prescrire (France)
– PharmAware UK, American Medical Students
Association PharmaFree
• International organisations
– Health Action International
– Healthy Skepticism Inc

• If you want to go fast, go alone;
• If you want to go far, go together.
-African proverb

National organisations and people

www.nofreelunch.org
Our mission is to encourage health care
providers to practice medicine on the basis of
scientific evidence rather than on the basis of
pharmaceutical promotion. We discourage
the acceptance of all gifts from industry by
health care providers, trainees, and students.
Our goal is improved patient care.

NoFreeLunch USA
• One person
• A website
• The NFL pledge and directory

NoFreeLunch UK
• One person
• A website
• A list of supporters

No grazie pago io (Italy)
• to establish rules of behaviour
• to collect documentation
• to diffuse information about violations of the
international codes and about conflicts of
interest
• to adhere to the principles of transparency
and independence
• 200 members

We are among those who say once and for all: NO THANKS!
No thank you to sources of biased information : we prefer to
pay reliable sources.
No thank you poisoned gifts, we do need any \"sponsorship\"
or other \"partnerships\".
No thank you to all the \"facilities\" and “benevolences\" which
lead to enslavement of our profession and its social and
intellectual impoverishment.
Whether professional, recreational or anything else, we
prefer to pay ourselves, and remain fully free in our choices
and actions.

AMSA PharmaFree
• www.amsa.org/prof/pharmfree.cfm
• Reclaiming the ethics of medicine by removing
conflicts of interest, and restoring the sanctity
of the patient-physician relationship

PharmAware UK
aims to maximise good practice and ethical
interactions between healthcare professionals
and pharmaceutical companies to enhance
patient care. Alongside this we aim to educate
and campaign on various international
pharma issues. We have branches at medical
schools around the UK.

Health Action International
• www.haiweb.org
• An independent, global network working to
increase access to essential medicines and
improve their rational use.

With regional offices in Africa (Nairobi), Asia
Pacific (Colombo), Europe (Amsterdam) and
Latin America (Lima) and a Global
coordinating office in Amsterdam, HAI is a
non-profit, independent, worldwide network
of over 200 members including consumer
groups, public interest NGOs, health care
providers, academics, media and individuals in
more than 70 countries.

Healthy Skepticism
Improving health by
reducing harm from
misleading drug
promotion
www.healthyskepticism.org
20

Conceived in Bangladesh
21

Anabolic
steroids for
malnourished
children
22

23

MaLAM Medical Lobby for
Appropriate Marketing
• Copied Amnesty International
• Letters almost 1/month
• Quoted ad, evidence summary, questions
• Signed by doctors and pharmacists around the
world

Who is Healthy Skepticism?
As of April 1:
• 1,615 subscribers + 193 members = 1,808
• 85 countries.
• Main funding source is subscription fees from
130 paid subscribers and members.

Subscribers ’ top 10 occupations
• Doctor 486
• Pharmacist 240
• Student 184
• Other Health Professional 169
• Other 143
• Journalist 105
• General Public 87
• Retired 63
• Pharmaceutical Industry 51
• Nurse 38

Subscribers’ top 10 countries
• Australia 676
• United States 412
• United Kingdom 145
• Canada 97
• Spain 44
• Italy 38
• India 34
• Sweden 30
• New Zealand 28
• Germany 26

Healthy Skepticism Management
Group
• Elected by our members
• Span 5 countries
• At least one is fluent in English, French,
German, Portuguese, Spanish
28

Jon Jureidini
Child
Psychiatrist
Chair
Adelaide
29

Heather Carter
GP
Adelaide
30

Joel Lexchin
Emergency
Medicine,
Health Policy
Toronto, Canada
31

Melissa Raven
Social Sciences
Adelaide
32

Agnés Vitry
Pharmacist
Adelaide
33

Jörg Schaaber
Sociologist/
Medical
Journalist
Bielefeld,
Germany
34

Joana Ramos
Social Worker
Seattle, USA
35

Dee Mangin
GP
Christchurch,
New Zealand
36

Healthy Skepticism
activities/infrastructure
• Web library: has 13,576 references relevant to
drug promotion
• Email discussion list
• Medical journal articles
• AdWatch
• Coming soon: Peer reviewed journal

38

Medical journal articles
• Vitry A, Lexchin J, Mansfield PR. Is Australia's National
Medicines Policy Failing? The Case of Cox-2 Inhibitors.
Int J Health Serv. 2007;37(4):735-744.
• Spurling G, Mansfield P. General practitioners and
pharmaceutical sales representatives: quality
improvement research. Qual Saf Health Care. 2007
Aug;16(4):266-70
• Mansfield PR, Lexchin J, Wen LS, Grandori L, McCoy CP,
Hoffman JR, Ramos J, Jureidini JN. Education for Health
Professionals about Drug and Device Promotion:
Advocates’ Recommendations. PLoS Med 2006:3(11):
e451

Plans: Journal
Intersections in Health, Science and
Commerce is a peer-reviewed journal
exploring the contested boundaries between
research, marketing and healthcare; and
examining educational, regulatory, policy and
other responses.

Plans: AdWatch Interactive
• Quick and easy for people around the world
to contribute (eg 15 minutes per month)
• Illuminate logical, psychological and
pharmacological techniques used in an ad.
• Interactive
• Feedback to company and regulatory agencies

• If you want to go fast, go alone;
• If you want to go far, go together.
-African proverb

HS draft policy re cooperation with
organisations with similar aims
• If the organisation has a membership fee we
will provide free HS membership for
individuals who apply if the organisation pays
a small % of their membership fee.
• For other organisations we will provide as
much help as we can (on request). In
exchange we request help to recruit HS
subscribers and members.

You are invited:
• Visit www.healthyskepticism.org
• Subscribers: Free monthly email alerts
• Paid Subscribers:
– Gold $500 (Euro 300)
– Standard $100 (Euro 60)
– Concession $25 (Euro 15)
• Members: support our aims
44

Healthy Skepticism
Improving health by
reducing harm from
misleading drug
promotion
www.healthyskepticism.org
45